M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
III. Saul and David
Chapter 13
1 [Saul was…years old when he became king and he reigned…-two years over Israel.][a]
Saul Offers Sacrifice. 2 Saul chose three thousand of Israel, of whom two thousand remained with him in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the army back to their tents. 3 Now Jonathan struck the Philistine garrison[b] in Gibeah, and the Philistines got word of it. Then Saul sounded the horn throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”(A) 4 Then all Israel heard the report, “Saul has struck the garrison of the Philistines! Israel has become odious to the Philistines!” Then the army was called up to Saul in Gilgal. 5 The Philistines also assembled for battle against Israel, with thirty thousand chariots,[c] six thousand horsemen, and foot soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore.(B) They came up and encamped in Michmash, east of Beth-aven.(C) 6 When the soldiers saw they were in danger because the army was hardpressed, they hid themselves in caves, thickets, rocks, caverns, and cisterns. 7 Other Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, held out in Gilgal, all his army trembling in fear behind him.[d] 8 He waited seven days, until the appointed time Samuel had set, but Samuel did not come, and the army deserted Saul.(D) 9 He then said, “Bring me the burnt offering and communion offerings!” Then he sacrificed the burnt offering.
King Saul Reproved. 10 As he finished sacrificing the burnt offering, there came Samuel! So Saul went out toward him in order to greet him. 11 Samuel asked him, “What have you done?” Saul explained: “When I saw that the army was deserting me and you did not come on the appointed day, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 I said to myself, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not yet sought the Lord’s blessing.’ So I thought I should sacrifice the burnt offering.” 13 Samuel replied to Saul: “You have acted foolishly! Had you kept the command the Lord your God gave you, the Lord would now establish your kingship in Israel forever; 14 but now your kingship shall not endure. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart[e] to appoint as ruler over his people because you did not observe what the Lord commanded you.”(E)
Philistine Invasion. 15 Then Samuel set out from Gilgal and went his own way; but what was left of the army went up after Saul to meet the soldiers, going from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul then counted the soldiers he had with him, about six hundred.(F) 16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the soldiers they had with them were now occupying Geba of Benjamin, and the Philistines were encamped at Michmash. 17 Meanwhile, raiders left the camp of the Philistines in three bands.(G) One band took the Ophrah road toward the district of Shual; 18 another turned in the direction of Beth-horon; and the third took the road for Geba that overlooks the Valley of the Hyenas toward the desert.
Disarmament of Israel.[f] 19 Not a single smith was to be found anywhere in Israel, for the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears.”(H) 20 All Israel, therefore, had to go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles. 21 The price for the plowshares and mattocks was two thirds of a shekel, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the ox-goads. 22 And so on the day of battle neither sword nor spear could be found in the hand of any of the soldiers with Saul or Jonathan. Only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
Jonathan’s Exploit. 23 An outpost of the Philistines had pushed forward to the pass of Michmash.(I)
Chapter 11
The Remnant of Israel.[a] 1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Of course not!(A) For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.(B) 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.”(C) 4 But what is God’s response to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt to Baal.”(D) 5 So also at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.(E) 6 But if by grace, it is no longer because of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.(F) 7 What then? What Israel was seeking it did not attain, but the elect attained it; the rest were hardened,(G) 8 as it is written:
“God gave them a spirit of deep sleep,
eyes that should not see
and ears that should not hear,
down to this very day.”(H)
9 And David says:(I)
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes grow dim so that they may not see,
and keep their backs bent forever.”
The Gentiles’ Salvation. 11 [b]Hence I ask, did they stumble so as to fall? Of course not! But through their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make them jealous.(J) 12 Now if their transgression is enrichment for the world, and if their diminished number is enrichment for the Gentiles, how much more their full number.
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry(K) 14 in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 [c]If the firstfruits are holy, so is the whole batch of dough; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.(L)
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place and have come to share in the rich root of the olive tree,(M) 18 do not boast against the branches. If you do boast, consider that you do not support the root; the root supports you.(N) 19 Indeed you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is so. They were broken off because of unbelief, but you are there because of faith. So do not become haughty, but stand in awe.(O) 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, [perhaps] he will not spare you either.(P) 22 See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but God’s kindness to you, provided you remain in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.(Q) 23 And they also, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.(R) 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated one, how much more will they who belong to it by nature be grafted back into their own olive tree.
God’s Irrevocable Call.[d] 25 I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not become wise [in] your own estimation: a hardening has come upon Israel in part, until the full number of the Gentiles comes in,(S) 26 and thus all Israel will be saved,(T) as it is written:(U)
“The deliverer will come out of Zion,
he will turn away godlessness from Jacob;
27 and this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”(V)
28 In respect to the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but in respect to election, they are beloved because of the patriarchs.(W) 29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.(X)
Triumph of God’s Mercy. 30 [e]Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may [now] receive mercy. 32 For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.(Y)
33 [f]Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!(Z)
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord[g]
or who has been his counselor?”(AA)
35 [h]“Or who has given him anything(AB)
that he may be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.(AC)
Chapter 50
The First Oracle Against Babylon. 1 The word the Lord spoke against Babylon,[a] against the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:(A)
2 Proclaim this among the nations, announce it!
Announce it, do not hide it, but say:
Babylon is captured, Bel[b] put to shame, Marduk terrified;
its images are put to shame, its idols shattered.
3 A nation from the north advances against it,
making the land desolate
So that no one can live there;
human beings and animals have fled.(B)
4 In those days and at that time—oracle of the Lord—
Israelite and Judahite shall come together,
Weeping as they come, to seek the Lord, their God;(C)
5 They shall ask for Zion,
seeking out the way.
“Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten.”(D)
6 Lost sheep were my people,
their shepherds misled them,
leading them astray on the mountains;
From mountain to hill they wandered,
forgetting their fold.(E)
7 Whoever happened upon them devoured them;
their enemies said, “We are not guilty,
Because they sinned against the Lord,
the abode of justice, the hope of their ancestors.”(F)
8 Flee from the midst of Babylon,
leave the land of the Chaldeans,
be like rams at the head of the flock.(G)
9 See, I am stirring up against Babylon
a band of great nations from the land of the north;
They are arrayed against her,
from there she shall be taken.
Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior
who never returns empty-handed.(H)
10 Chaldea shall become plunder;
all its plunderers shall be enriched—
oracle of the Lord.
11 Yes, rejoice and exult,
you that plunder my heritage;
Frisk like calves on the grass,
neigh like stallions!
12 Your mother will indeed be put to shame,
she that bore you shall be abashed;
See, the last of the nations,
a wilderness, a dry wasteland.(I)
13 Because of the Lord’s wrath it shall be uninhabited,
become an utter wasteland;
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled
and hiss at all its wounds.(J)
14 Take your posts encircling Babylon,
you who bend the bow;
Shoot at it, do not spare your arrows,(K)
15 raise the war cry against it on every side.
It surrenders, its bastions fall,
its walls are torn down:[c]
This is retribution from the Lord! Take retribution on her,
as she has done, do to her;
for she sinned against the Lord.(L)
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon
and those who wield sickles at harvest time!
Before the destroying sword,
all of them turn back to their own people,
all flee to their own land.(M)
17 Israel was a stray sheep
that lions pursued;
The king of Assyria once devoured him;
now Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnaws his bones.(N)
18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
as I once punished the king of Assyria;(O)
19 But I will bring Israel back to its pasture,
to feed on Carmel and Bashan,
And on Mount Ephraim and Gilead,
until they have their fill.(P)
20 In those days, at that time—oracle of the Lord:
The guilt of Israel may be sought, but it no longer exists,
the sin of Judah, but it can no longer be found;
for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.(Q)
21 Attack the land of Merathaim,
and those who live in Pekod;[d]
Slaughter and put them under the ban—oracle of the Lord—
do all I have commanded you.
22 Battle alarm in the land,
great destruction!
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
has been cut off and broken!
What an object of horror
Babylon has become among the nations!(R)
24 You ensnared yourself and were caught,
Babylon, before you knew it!
You were discovered and seized,
because you challenged the Lord.(S)
25 The Lord opens his armory,
brings out the weapons of his wrath;
The Lord God of hosts has work to do
in the land of the Chaldeans.(T)
26 Come upon them from every side,
open their granaries,
Pile them up in heaps and put them under the ban;
do not leave a remnant.
27 Slay all the oxen,
take them down to slaughter;
Woe to them! their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
28 Listen! the fugitives, the refugees
from the land of Babylon:
They announce in Zion
the retribution of the Lord, our God.(U)
29 Call archers out against Babylon,
all who bend the bow;
Encamp around them;
let no one escape.
Repay them for their deeds;
what they have done, do to them,
For they insulted the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.(V)
30 Therefore their young men shall fall in the squares,
all their warriors shall be stilled on that day—
oracle of the Lord.(W)
31 I am against you, O Insolence—
oracle of the Lord God of hosts;
For your day has come,
the time for me to punish you.
32 Insolence stumbles and falls;
there is no one to raise him up.
I will kindle a fire in his cities
to devour everything around him.
33 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Oppressed are the people of Israel,
together with the people of Judah;
All their captors hold them fast
and refuse to let them go.
34 Strong is their Redeemer,
whose name is Lord of hosts,
The sure defender of their cause,
who gives rest to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon.(X)
35 A sword upon the Chaldeans—oracle of the Lord—
upon the inhabitants of Babylon, her princes and sages!
36 A sword upon the soothsayers,
and they become fools!
A sword upon the warriors,
and they tremble;
37 A sword upon their motley throng,
and they become women!
A sword upon their treasures,
and they are plundered;(Y)
38 A drought upon the waters,
and they dry up!
For it is a land of idols,
soon made frantic by phantoms.(Z)
39 Hence, wildcats shall dwell there with hyenas,
and ostriches occupy it;
Never again shall it be inhabited or settled,
from age to age.(AA)
40 As happened when God overturned Sodom
and Gomorrah and their neighbors—oracle of the Lord—
No one shall dwell there,
no mortal shall settle there.(AB)
41 See, a people comes from the north,
a great nation, and mighty kings
rising from the ends of the earth.(AC)
42 Bow and javelin they wield,
cruel and pitiless are they;
They sound like the roaring sea,
as they ride forth on horses,
Each in place for battle
against you, daughter Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon hears news of them,
and his hands hang helpless;
Anguish takes hold of him,
like the pangs of a woman giving birth.(AD)
44 As happens when a lion comes up from a thicket of the Jordan
to permanent pasture,
So I, in an instant, will chase them off,
and establish there whomever I choose!
For who is like me? Who can call me to account?
What shepherd can stand against me?(AE)
45 Therefore, hear the strategy of the Lord,
which he has devised against Babylon;
Hear the plans drawn up
against the land of the Chaldeans:
They shall be dragged away, even the smallest sheep;
their own pasture aghast because of them.(AF)
46 At the cry “Babylon is captured!” the earth quakes;
the outcry is heard among the nations.(AG)
Psalm 28[a]
Petition and Thanksgiving
1 Of David.
I
To you, Lord, I call;
my Rock, do not be deaf to me,(A)
Do not be silent toward me,
so that I join those who go down to the pit.(B)
2 Hear the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help
when I lift up my hands toward your holy place.[b](C)
3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with those who do wrong,(D)
Who speak peace to their neighbors
though evil is in their hearts.(E)
4 Repay them for their deeds,
for the evil that they do.
For the work of their hands repay them;
give them what they deserve.(F)
5 Because they do not understand the Lord’s works,
the work of his hands,(G)
He will tear them down,
never to rebuild them.
II
6 [c]Blessed be the Lord,
who has heard the sound of my pleading.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield,
in whom my heart trusts.
I am helped, so my heart rejoices;
with my song I praise him.
III
8 [d]Lord, you are a strength for your people,
the saving refuge of your anointed.
9 Save your people, bless your inheritance;
pasture and carry them forever!
Psalm 29[e]
The Lord of Majesty Acclaimed as King of the World
1 A psalm of David.
I
Give to the Lord, you sons of God,[f]
give to the Lord glory and might;
2 Give to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bow down before the Lord’s holy splendor!(H)
II
3 The voice of the Lord[g] is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is power;
the voice of the Lord is splendor.(I)
5 The voice of the Lord cracks the cedars;
the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon,
6 Makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
and Sirion[h] like a young bull.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes with fiery flame;
8 the voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.
9 [i]The voice of the Lord makes the deer dance
and strips the forests bare.
All in his Temple say, “Glory!”
III
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.